Developing nations calls for more attention in the Copenhagen conference

The second week of the Copenhagen climate talks has seen sharper divisions between developing countries and their developed counterparts. Representatives from mostly African nations walked out of the conference hall on Monday morning, accusing the wealthier nations of trying to kill the Kyoto Protocol. Although the talks resumed in the afternoon, the sharp differences between the stances of developing and developed countries has cast a shadow over the conference.

The disruption of Monday morning's talks signaled that the Copenhagen conference has entered a truly challenging stage.

Representatives of developing nations have become more outspoken compared to the first week. And they are not hiding their dissatisfaction over the slow progress of the conference.

Lumumba Di-Aping, Sudanese Representative, Head of the 135-nation Bloc of Developing Countries, said, "We are not afraid. We know that the developed countries have made that decision that they would want to kill the Kyoto Protocol in order to change the balance of obligations between developing countries and developed countries and that is absolutely unacceptable to all members of G77."

The sticking point here is indeed the Kyoto Protocol. The developing countries want to extend the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which imposed penalties on rich nations if they did not comply with its strict emissions limits. But most rich nations want to merge the Kyoto Protocol into a new, single accord with obligations for all to fight global warming.